I wouldn't mind if we had such an indicator of future transfers. Pretty handy

Nah, it would take the whole fun away from the silly-season-addiction: no more reading in between lines in official statements and denials, no more body language reading... it would be too easy and, therefore, boring.

Nah, it would take the whole fun away from the silly-season-addiction: no more reading in between lines in official statements and denials, no more body language reading... it would be too easy and, therefore, boring.

Imagine every driver starts following... Ferrari... or Macca. Still boring?

Caterham: Kovalainen is a big question mark. Much conflicting news around. Second driver could be VdGarde, only due to cash. Petrov has seem to run out of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kovalainen is pushed out of F1 at the end of this season. Doesn't seem happy at Caterham and trying to shop around for a move, with the likes of Senna/van der Gaarde money on offer they might try and test Fernandes' resolve.

Get in Guiterrez & Frijns. Two rising stars. They're inexperienced but that didn't seem to matter when they hired Kamui and Sergio to drive together.

Not quite, Kamui started racing for Sauber in 2010 and Sergio in 2011. By all means try either Gutierrez or Frijns, but two rookies together would be the kind of madness Toro Rosso get up to, imo.

If Jaime goes to Force India (which I think is quite likely) then it will be as 3rd driver with di Resta and Bianchi in the race seats unless Bianchi moves to Sauber.I seriously doubt that Massa will still be in F1 in 2013 if Ferrari dumps him.Kovalainen to Sauber seems not very likely but you never know.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kovalainen is pushed out of F1 at the end of this season. Doesn't seem happy at Caterham and trying to shop around for a move, with the likes of Senna/van der Gaarde money on offer they might try and test Fernandes' resolve.

Not quite, Kamui started racing for Sauber in 2010 and Sergio in 2011. By all means try either Gutierrez or Frijns, but two rookies together would be the kind of madness Toro Rosso get up to, imo.

Lotus tweeted the video, which would be a very weird thing to do if Räikkönen is going to leave the team.The video was done by a Finnish PR agency that usually does the PR for Ice1 (Räikkönen's motosport team)

I wouldn't be surprised if Kovalainen is pushed out of F1 at the end of this season. Doesn't seem happy at Caterham and trying to shop around for a move, with the likes of Senna/van der Gaarde money on offer they might try and test Fernandes' resolve.

Not quite, Kamui started racing for Sauber in 2010 and Sergio in 2011. By all means try either Gutierrez or Frijns, but two rookies together would be the kind of madness Toro Rosso get up to, imo.

Kovalainen will stay with Caterham, they are close to sign a new deal and according to Heikki, Caterham is the only team he is have conversations with.

Kimi will stay with Lotus, it's only matter of time according to Boullier when the option will be turned in to the new deal.

Kovalainen will stay with Caterham, they are close to sign a new deal and according to Heikki, Caterham is the only team he is have conversations with.

Oh I think you're right, he'll most likely be with Caterham again next season. All I mean is, what with pay drivers apparently waiting in the wings at Caterham and other teams, the rumours of Kovalainen's manager shopping around with Ferrari/Sauber but not looking like materializing, I just wouldn't be suprised/shocked that a quality driver like him is forced off the grid.

Kimi will stay with Lotus, it's only matter of time according to Boullier when the option will be turned in to the new deal.

Hopefully after today, Grosjean will be binned after this year and Kamui goes to Lotus F1 next season. A Kamui/Kimi battle would be immense !

Is it that nessesary to leave Sauber? The car is quick, the team is really on it, they have got money.

Might not be his choice. Latest rumours suggest Di Resta to Ferrari but Massa claimed earlier that he'll be still with Ferrari next season and Hulkenberg will be at Sauber (a claim also asserted by Blick - a Swiss newspaper), so it may not be Kamui's choice. But I'd love to see a Kobayashi and Raikkonen battle

Don't think that. Sauber is the better car and more importantly the one who works better with the tyres.Therefore...Sauber has a small point advantage

I agree with you.

Force India was quite off the pace by the most of the season, and their car is harder on tyres than any of other midfield cars. Including this, I can see admirable consistency from Force India's drivers and they are positioned better in WCC than this car deserved IMHO.

But many people will still follow the impression and value some flashes in the really good car over decent and consistent driving in mediocre car, blaming drivers, not the car, for the mediocrity.

Force India was quite off the pace by the most of the season, and their car is harder on tyres than any of other midfield cars. Including this, I can see admirable consistency from Force India's drivers and they are positioned better in WCC than this car deserved IMHO.

But many people will still follow the impression and value some flashes in the really good car over decent and consistent driving in mediocre car, blaming drivers, not the car, for the mediocrity.

I agree. Overall, I think FI is only 8th best car this season and Di Resta and Hulkenberg are doing a good job to keep it on P7 in WCC.

That said, I don't think moving from FI to Sauber would be a big step forward for Hulkenberg. They are both midfield teams and both unlikely to become a top team soon. Sauber looks a bit better, but I would prefer him to go to Ferrari. However, in the last 4 races Massa got about twice as many points as in all races before. That reduces Hulkenberg's chances, but I'm still sceptical that Massa can consistently earn big points and he still hasn't beaten Alonso in a race on merit (or at least put himself in a position which requires team orders).

It's clear the Sauber car is one of the best on the grid at certain tracks. At Suzuka it was arguably the second or third fastest car. I do still think the FI drivers are doing very well with the machinery they have in relation to Sauber and Williams.

Massa has probably secured his seat with todays drive. Kobayashi hopefully with Sauber too. Hulkenberg and Di Resta to stay put, which isn't too bad anyway. Not sure what it means for Jaime, seems like everyone has gone good when he least wanted it to.

It's clear the Sauber car is one of the best on the grid at certain tracks. At Suzuka it was arguably the second or third fastest car. I do still think the FI drivers are doing very well with the machinery they have in relation to Sauber and Williams.

Massa has probably secured his seat with todays drive. Kobayashi hopefully with Sauber too. Hulkenberg and Di Resta to stay put, which isn't too bad anyway. Not sure what it means for Jaime, seems like everyone has gone good when he least wanted it to.

I agree the FI drivers have been more consistent than the two Sauber drivers this season but I don't see how switching to Sauber would be such a promotion for Hulkenberg. Its more a move across and its very possible that FI will close the gap with Sauber over the winter unless Hulkenberg has been forced out of FI. If so who is replacing him?

Sauber will most likely have Gutierrez in one seat, the main question will be whether they need the other driver to bring money. If so Kobayashi is out. There's a long long list of potential replacements....

It's clear the Sauber car is one of the best on the grid at certain tracks. At Suzuka it was arguably the second or third fastest car. I do still think the FI drivers are doing very well with the machinery they have in relation to Sauber and Williams.

at tracks like Spa and Monza FI and Wiliams are at least as good as Sauber. Also how many Saubers Grosjean alone either wiped out or heavily compromised this season? 5 or 6 isnt it.

If I was Ferrari I would still see how he does in the rest of the season, Massa has been awful, can't judge him based on a single good race.

Exactly. One swallow does not make a summer. He looked better over the last few races, but he is still only at around 36% of the points Alonso has scored. I don't think Ferrari are in a hurry with their 2nd driver decision anyway.

But many people will still follow the impression and value some flashes in the really good car over decent and consistent driving in mediocre car, blaming drivers, not the car, for the mediocrity.

Many people following impression only and value results only is EXACTLY why Kobayashi is getting this astonishingly unfair and biased reputation and media spin of "racing for career", which is lead mainly by the likes of Brundle and Allen and done by UK sports media as a whole.

If you look at race by race everything is explainable by logic (just go count how many Saubers Grosjean wiped out just this season), all the Kamui's poor result and performance can be explained by factor not attributable to the driver, as I wrote over and over in several other threads. that Kobayashi's seat in doubt itself is very funny and shows what's wrong about current F1, both journalism and structure (connection and sponsor matters more than anything) very well.

Many people following impression only and value results only is EXACTLY why Kobayashi is getting this astonishingly unfair and biased reputation and media spin of "racing for career", which is lead mainly by the likes of Brundle and Allen and done by UK sports media as a whole.

If you look at race by race everything is explainable by logic (just go count how many Saubers Grosjean wiped out just this season), all the Kamui's poor result and performance can be explained by factor not attributable to the driver, as I wrote over and over in several other threads. that Kobayashi's seat in doubt itself is very funny and shows what's wrong about current F1, both journalism and structure (connection and sponsor matters more than anything) very well.

I'm not sure why you seem to believe Kamui's seat next year is secure?

He's out of contract next season.

Sauber are very carefully refusing to say anything positive about signing him again to the extent that Monisha made it clear they'd be perfectly happy to have two brand new drivers next season.

Even Kobayashi himself said a podium at Suzuka would be very helpful, even necessary if he was going to drive at Sauber in 2013.

Monisha Kaltenborn is in a bad mood, because they lost Perez, a driver she believes was developed at Sauber and at their expenses, only to have him lost to a front team. I am aware of her mandate and executive powers with the team, but Peter Sauber needs to sit down with her, and talk it out. It’s not over yet, and after today perhaps some Japanese companies might reconsider sponsor him. At the end better consistency would help, but if one looks around, which teams was really immune to yo-yo effect this year, and within that context perhaps not all negatives could be placed at Kamui’s doorstep.

I'm not sure why you seem to believe Kamui's seat next year is secure?

He's out of contract next season.

Sauber are very carefully refusing to say anything positive about signing him again to the extent that Monisha made it clear they'd be perfectly happy to have two brand new drivers next season.

Even Kobayashi himself said a podium at Suzuka would be very helpful, even necessary if he was going to drive at Sauber in 2013.

By definition this means that Kamui is fighting for his career....

Read carefully, I dont say I believe his seat is secure. Just pointing out and criticising that such situation itself and that some people saying as if he deserves no seat given his result, is so wrong. If things are rightly fair he deserves F1 seat, more than many other current drivers, he's a driver who deserves to be in F1 without sponsors, but oh how unfair things are in F1. Sauber are the one who should know Kamui's doing very well, but they are midfielder after all and need money, just like Williams and FI, lives of more than hundred staff are at stake you know, so it's understandable.

Monisha Kaltenborn is in a bad mood, because they lost Perez, a driver she believes was developed at Sauber and at their expenses, only to have him lost to a front team. I am aware of her mandate and executive powers with the team, but Peter Sauber needs to sit down with her, and talk it out. It’s not over yet, and after today perhaps some Japanese companies might reconsider sponsor him. At the end better consistency would help, but if one looks around, which teams was really immune to yo-yo effect this year, and within that context perhaps not all negatives could be placed at Kamui’s doorstep.

Read carefully, I dont say I believe his seat is secure. Just pointing out and criticising that such situation itself and that some people saying as if he deserves no seat given his result, is so wrong. If things are rightly fair he deserves F1 seat, more than many other current drivers, he's a driver who deserves to be in F1 without sponsors, but oh how unfair things are in F1. Sauber are the one who should know Kamui's doing very well, but they are midfielder after all and need money, just like Williams and FI, lives of more than hundred staff are at stake you know, so it's understandable.

Last year, there were also drivers, who lost their seats underservedly, even after their best seasons in sport, so, I understand you... Sadly, it is the cruel side of Formula One...